Grand Palais renovations force Paris art fairs’ relocation

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Paris’s iconic Grand Palais building is due to undergo renovations works, which will commence in 2020, and are expected to take two years to complete. The renovations involve a logistical restructuring of tremendous proportions, especially since three of France’s flagship events are traditionally held in its spaces. FIAC, Paris Photo, and La Biennale Paris (formerly Biennale des Antiquaries) all need to find alternative locations for their 2012 and 2022 editions.

Paris’s iconic Grand Palais building – whose grand inauguration took place in 1 May 1900 – is due to undergo renovations works, which will commence in 2020, and are expected to take two years to complete.

While the renovations are not set to begun for another couple of years, they do involve a logistical restructuring of tremendous proportions, especially since three of France’s flagship events are traditionally held in its spaces. FIAC, Paris Photo, and La Biennale Paris (formerly Biennale des Antiquaries) all need to find alternative locations for their 2012 and 2022 editions.

The Grand Palais is expected to reopen in 2023, and the renovation measures will be geared towards providing “exceptional high quality, generous exhibition spaces”, according to Sylvie Hubac, president of the government-run cultural organization, Réunion des musées nationaux.

The chosen temporary spaces for these three art fairs will be announced later this year, although several options are already being singled out as possibilities – these include the Petite Palais, which is located next to the Grand Palais, or the possibility of a temporary tent structure in a central Paris location. As FIAC director Jennifer Flay commented: “we’ll be ‘glamping’ for a couple of years, but always within sight of the Grand Palais.”